Question

You are the newly appointed sales manager of the Rock Computer Tablets Company and have been charged with the task of increasing revenues. Your economics consultants have informed you that at present price and output levels, price elasticity of demand for your product is less than one. You should:
A. decrease prices.
B. increase prices.
C. hold prices constant and increase supply.
D. hold prices constant and decrease supply.

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is:

increase prices (B)      

Explanation:

Price elasticity of demand (PED) is the measure of how the quantity of goods demanded change, as the selling of the good change. Mathematically, it is represented as the percentage change in the quantity of good demanded divided by the percentage change in the price of the good.

Price elasticity of demand can be; greater than one, less than one, equal to one, zero, or infinite.

If price elasticity of demand is less than one, it is said to be elastic, meaning that the demand for a product is sensitive to the change in price, and an increase in price will cause a reduction in revenue by the seller, while a reduction in price results to an increase in the quantity demanded, hence increasing revenue. For example, an increase in the price of chicken, may cause consumers to go for turkey instead, leading to a reduction in the demand for chicken.

A price elasticity of demand of less than one is termed inelastic, and an increase in the price of the product does not cause a significant drop in the quantity of the goods demanded, and this is the case seen in our example, so increasing the price of the good will increase the revenue.

When PED is equal to one, it is said to be unit elastic, and it means that the quantity demanded varies proportionately with change in price. For example if the price of a product increases by 50%, and 50% of its regular buyers switch to another brand.

A price elasticity of demand of zero is said to be perfectly inelastic, and it means that the demand for a good does not change at all, irrespective of the change in price.

Finally, a PED equal to infinity (∞) is said to be perfectly elastic, and consumers will only buy the product at only one price and nothing more.